Yep, but not playing those new players and giving them time to settle means we had to start with Lucas and Johnson
Thank god we bought Moreno, never seen the lad play, but he can only be better than Johnson. We desperately need another striker, someone with that spark, shame it won't be a Reus. Still need another midfielder.
Lucas adds nothing. He'd struggle to make the first 11 of any top half prem team. He offers too little. Can't score, can't thread passes, can't ping passes 40 yards and now can't defend. Worse is he also doesn't keep the ball moving, he halts our attacks with his indecision. He simply must go
It's Tadic. And half the price of Lallana! Good game though. v disappointed we didn't get anything. Think we'll both look in good shape once the new players bed in properly. Obviously at different levels.
Taking the piss there mate, he was man of the match, a ****ing rock with a big ****ing lighthouse on top!
We were unable to play Moreno because he was not registered in time. Flanagan has been injured to. We had little choice but play Johnson. i'v already said Allen should have started, but he's not a new signing.
Absolute bollocks! It's not a matter of deserving anything at this stage. Its all about the results and how the team works. BR will see from that where our midfield disappeared to and what he needs to do to compensate for a side playing conter who actually take the initiative.
I didn't see the point in picking Lucas if he hadn't played all that much in pre-season. Remembering back to the same match last season, Wanyama and Schneiderlin overran us in midfield and Lucas was found to be well off the pace today. I also expected us to have problems at the back bearing in mind our lack of fullback options. All in all it was a poor performance but bearing in mind we got the 3 points I wouldn't worry too much about it. We started off slowly last season performance-wise, Moreno coming in will eliminate the "square-pegs" issue at the back and we have plenty of midfield options - it's just up to BR to pick the right options for the right matches. Was also good to see that Lambert can influence a game from off the bench.
Lucas adds nothing unless player as a single, central DM. When Gerrard was injured last season he did well. The probably is Gerrard and Lucas both playing. They dont balance each other.
Btw just a shout out to Manquillo. He played like 7 games last year. Debut game in the prem and for us and I already prefer him to Johnson who is supposed to be an experienced veteran but now looks more and more like a headless chicken.